China: facial recognition capital of the world

Company bucket list

Hi there,

A couple of weeks ago, we used our patent search engine to identify several Walmart patents focused on farming. 

It included one for pollination drones or robot bees. These drones or “applicators” would carry pollen from one plant to another, and use sensors to verify the transfer was successful.

This past weekend, the patent was featured on Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update. Just remember, you saw it here first.

I always feel like somebody’s watching me

China has been upfront about its plans to become an AI-first state — and about using AI tech to monitor its citizens.

In 2017, 530+ video surveillance patents and 900+ facial recognition patents were published in China. We dig into these patents, private market activity, government documents, and more in part 1 of our China in AI series.

Trump — dude just keeps winning

With the recent launch of our Earnings Transcript Search Engine on CB Insights, we took a look at whether President Obama was referenced more by public company execs than his successor, The Donald.

As the graph from CBI shows, it ain’t even close.

President Obama never was talked about as much as Trump.

BTW, technical traders call the below pattern a classic hood formation.

New digs

This week, WeWork signed an agreement with Swire Properties to lease 4 floors in a commercial tower in Hong Kong, just a few train stops away from the city’s Central business district.

WeWork’s location-scouting method is one of its key differentiators. Using a location data provider, it rates locations by proximity to amenities, other businesses, and other WeWorks.

For more on what does — and doesn’t — set WeWork apart, check out our analysis.

We need to talk about AI

Microsoft and Google dominate the enterprise AI space — and AI conversations.

Microsoft’s mentions of “artificial intelligence” have skyrocketed as the company pushes to distinguish itself from competitors and works to “democratize AI for everyone.”

Google concentrates more on “machine learning,” which is crucial for its search products like Google Assistant. We discuss this and more in our FAMGA earnings call analysis.

Buzz versus bulk

On the heels of its crypto trading announcement, buzzy 3-year-old Robinhood is reportedly pretty close to securing additional funding that values the company at $5.6B. Wow, right? They’ll need it. 

The company plays in the same market as 72-year-old Fidelity, which has $6.2T (yes, trillion) in customer assets. Fidelity has also applied decades of customer learning to simplify its trading platform and make it available everywhere — from Alexa to the Apple Watch.  

We’ll have pointed questions for leaders of both companies at the Future of Fintech, June 19-21.

Register here. Use the code StockUp for $500 off.

The Industry Standard

CB Insights data is the most trusted by those in the industry and the media. A few recent hits.

Quartz. Sushma UN (@sushmaun) reports that Amazon and Apple CEOs are mentioning India less frequently despite making more investments in the country, and references CB Insights’ earnings call analysis.

GeekWire. Alan Boyle (@b0yle) writes about why Walmart is interested in drone bees and cites CB Insights patent research.

CNET. Dara Kerr (@darakerr) writes about the backlash that companies like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods are getting from the US Cattlemen’s Association and quotes CB Insights senior retail analyst Zoe Leavitt (@zoe_leavitt).

I love you.

Anand
@asanwal

P.S. On March 27, we’ll be discussing the future of the telecommunications industry. Sign up for the briefing here.